Apple Guide | How to Match the Apple to the Recipe

From the best apples for salads and baking to the best apples for applesauce and snacking, our apple guide is here to help you pick the perfect variety.

By Amy Traverso

Sep 30 2022

Apple varieties are as individual as people, with their own quirky flavors and textures. Some perform best in long-baked desserts; others are best eaten fresh. You can’t tell by simply looking at them, and they don’t come with a label. I’ve taken the guesswork out of matching apples to recipes by organizing some popular and worthy varieties into four categories—firm-tart, firm-sweet, tender-tart, and tender-sweet—which correspond to their best use in the kitchen. Acidity and texture are the two most important characteristics that determine how any apple performs in a recipe, so that’s what we’ll focus on here. Wondering about the best apples for apple pie? We recommend a combination of firm-tart and firm-sweet. Try them in our Blue-Ribbon Deep-Dish Apple Pie recipe.

The Expert Apple Guide: How to Match the Apple to the Recipe

Rocky Brook Orchard in Middletown, RI | Best Apple Orchards in New England
*Photo Credit : Courtesy of Rocky Brook Orchard*

Best Apples for Baking

Firm apples work best for baking and can be sorted into two groups: Firm-Tart and Firm-Sweet

Firm-Tart Apples

These apples hold their shape when cooked and have enough acidity to balance rich baked desserts, such as pies and tarts. They also perform well in many savory dishes. We love them in our Apple & Mustard Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

Calville Blanc d’Hiver
Esopus Spitzenberg
GoldRush
Granny Smith
Northern Spy
Rhode Island Greening
Rome
Roxbury Russet
Sierra Beauty
Stayman Winesap

Firm-Sweet Apples

These are best in sweet and savory baked dishes that need a firm apple with more sweetness than sourness, such as tea cakes, baked apples, and compotes.

Baldwin
Black Oxford
Blue Pearmain
Cameo
Ginger Gold
Golden Delicious
Honeycrisp
Jazz
Jonagold
Mutsu
Pink Lady
Sweet Tango

Best Apples for Applesauce & Soup

Tender-Tart Apples

Because they break down quickly during cooking, tender-tarts are ideal for soups and sauces, as well as for eating by hand. Try our favorite Easy Applesauce recipe.

Cortland
Empire
Jonathan
Macoun
McIntosh

Best Apples for Snacking

Tender-Sweet Apples

Tender-sweets are well suited to salads, applesauce, and such quick-cooking dishes as pancakes and muffins.

Ambrosia
Cox’s Orange Pippin
Fuji
Gala

BONUS! Apples That Won’t Brown | Best Apples for Salads

Looking for apples that don’t brown quickly when sliced? These varieties are a good choice for salads.

GoldRush
Stayman Winesap
Ginger Gold
Golden Delicious
Cortland
Empire
Fuji
Gala

Download the Printable Version of the Apple Guide.This post was first published in 2013 and has been updated.

SEE MORE: Best Apple Orchards in New England Best Apple Recipes | 10 Fall Fruit Favorites

Amy Traverso

Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.

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